Ten Year LaterChocolate Nugget Candy Factory Thin and Crisp Jalapeño, P-Nut Brittle Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014

Martin Peyruc, Reporter

Life News today, The Reckless Gastronome

Whenever I think of peanut brittle I think of the old cans that had a spring snake inside that would jump out to scare you when you opened the lid. A good portion of me was expecting that when I opened this bag. I expected to be horrified, and to be fair it is a shade of green that would make the Incredible Hulk go green with envy if he wasn't already green.I really shouldn't trust my expectations. It's actually quite mild, that or I've murdered my tongue with spicy foods and I can't tell anymore. Don't get me wrong though, you can certainly taste the jalapeño and there is a bit of heat to it. It just takes a while to build up, but once it does it lingers. Speaking of lingering, being brittle (so that's why they call it that) when you bite into it shatters and leaves lots of little green crystals that stick quite tenaciously to your shirt, or in my case, chest hair. I feel like a sticky Oscar the Grouch. Being green, sticky, and hairy is making me feel a bit grouchy too, good thing it's still rather tasty.

A decade later, the most surprising thing about this brittle is not the color, the concept, or the audacity. It is the fact that it is still being made and sold. In a world where novelty snacks appear and disappear faster than you can say LTO (Limited-Time Offer), the jalapeño P-Nut brittle has quietly endured.

The Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory (sing it to the tune of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) continues to offer this particular shade of green chaos, suggesting there are enough brave souls in the world who look at jalapeño and peanut brittle in the same sentence and say yes, that seems reasonable. This is not nostalgia candy coasting on memory alone. This is a product that has found its niche and apparently thrived.

Its continued presence says something about how it was designed in the first place. It occupies a lot of middle ground. The heat is tolerable. The brittle isn’t a prank. It was built to be unusual without being unapproachable, crunchy but not rock hard, and strange in a way that rewards curiosity rather than punishes it.

That may explain its longevity. While other spicy sweets leaned hard into shock value and quietly vanished, this one stayed put, green and unapologetic. It does not chase trends. It simply waits for the next unsuspecting customer to open the bag, hear the crunch, and realize that brittle is not a passive experience.

Ten years later, the jalapeño P-Nut brittle remains exactly what it always was. A well-made candy with a sense of humor, a disregard for cleanliness, and just enough heat to make people talk about it long after the crumbs are gone.

Found at the Chocolate Nugget Candy Factory in Nevada

Donated by my friend Amy